Nigerian school building collapses, kills several

A four-story building in Nigeria that contains a school and multiple residences collapsed Wednesday, killing at least 10 people, emergency officials said.

Rescuers work at the scene of a building collapse in Ita Faji, Lagos, Nigeria, on Wednesday. Photo by Israel Ophori/

A rescue worker told BBC News that some 40 students had been pulled out of the rubble alive. More than 100 people attend the school on the top floor of the building in Ita Faji on Lagos Island.
The building had structural problems and was scheduled to be demolished. Local resident Mohammed Muftau told the BBC he observed cracks in the building before its collapse.

“So far, we have rescued about 25 people and some already dead … the building is not technically a school, it is a residential building that was actually accommodating an illegal school, so to speak, on the second floor,” Lagos state Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode said.

Family members gathered around the rubble site and at the hospital hoping to find loved ones. Lagos state Deputy Gov. Oluranti Adebule called for calm.

“We commiserate with the families of the affected pupils and staff,” she said. “We are urging parents, who are anxious to see their children and wards, to allow medical doctors and government’s rescue team to do their work in rescuing and protecting the lives of the victims.”